Corks - Now I am worried.

[XPLSV]

Having just got back into some winemaking after an initial couple of batches back in the 80's, the wife and I bought a Portugese floor corker right off the bat. Our first bottling was lower priced wine kit that came with corks and we used those corks. We recently bottled a batch from last fall's grape harvest and I bought premium natural corks for those. The premium corks bottled much smoother than the cheaper ones that came with the kit. With the kit corks, I had some shavings off several of the corks, larger dimples in the top of the cork immediately following corking, and they did not seem to seat as easily/fluidly as the more expensive corks. I had no leaks with either.

Bernie

 

[Runningwolf]

Bernie, smart buy on the Portugese corker. I can't comment on the corks you got with the kit not knowing what they were but it does pay to get half decent corks. For wines your going to drink within three years I would not go over board in buying the best corks. Also, I'm sure you've read it several times by now, do not soak your corks.

 

[mikey1273]

Ok so you say don't soak your corks.... they do need sanitized? I just made a bowl of potassium meta sulfide solution big enough to hold the 30 corks dumped them in swished them around so they were all wet with the solution and drained it off. Am I making my corks too wet?

 

[Runningwolf]

You'll be fine.

 

[garymc]

I have a port Corker and have used synthetic Nomacork, agglomerated, agglomerated with discs, and premium natural corks. None have leaked. The Nomacorks are softer and go in easier and they also come out much easier. But they smell like old rubber and the neck of the bottle smells like rubber. So I'm not using them anymore. My wine is muscadine and 16 to 18%, so maybe there is odd chemistry going on. I don't and wouldn't oak my wine but the natural corks are made from oak bark. I find that months down the road, cork beats rubber and premium corks have given me noticeably better wine. I have a friend who has recently gotten a winery license (went legit.) I think he buys premium corks from Grapeman. So I get mine from him. I wouldn't use synthetic corks now if they were free. I have to point out that muscadine wine (mine at least) benefits greatly from aging.

 

[bstnh1]

Here's the best corks and the link to buy them, there's nothing that compares. I would never buy cheap corks again after losing the batch of wine I made a few months back.
Link: http://www.widgetco.com/wine-corks-flor-quality-24-45

Flor Quality Natural Wine Corks

Suggested for wines: 12+ years old
Material: Highest Grade Natural Cork (1st of 9)
Diameter: #9 (24mm)
Length: 1-3/4" (44mm)
Fits: Standard Wine Bottles (750ml)

Natural "Flor" Wine Corks are natural wine corks intended for wine storage of 12+ years. Natural wine corks are punched from cork oak bark harvested once every 9 years, then dried for up to 2 more years. The wine corks are punched from the cork oak bark and then sorted by quality; the fewer the lenticels (crevise like imperfections) the better the wine cork. "Flor" is considered the highest quality-grade natural wine cork.

Made from 100% natural cork harvested in Portugal. All corks are TCA treated, carefully handled and ready for bottling. Large orders are packaged in S02 packaging. This wine cork will compress to fit standard wine bottles - corker is required.

I've been using the bi-disc corks from Widgetco for a couple of years and have had no problems.

 

[Deezil]

If you dont wanna spend a dollar a bottle on just the cork, MoreWine occasionally sells (look in the late fall / early winter) over-prints on Grade 3 corks that have been ordered and returned by larger wineries

I picked up 2, 100-count bags for roughly 1/2 the price of normal Grade 3 corks, and have only had to discard roughly a half-dozen because they dont meet my personal standards..

Found several varieties of Kendall Jackson prints, among others, printed on corks I ordered

Those 'Flor' corks, are just a fancy name for Grade 1 corks